These surveys were part of a series of pretests conducted
during the early 1970s to reveal problems associated with doing a
nationwide study on victimization. They were done to determine the most
effective reference period to use when questioning respondents in order
to gain the fullest and most reliable information, to measure the
degree to which respondents move incidents occurring outside the
reference period into that period when questioned, and to explore the
possibility of identifying inci... (more info)

These surveys were part of a series of pretests conducted
during the early 1970s to reveal problems associated with doing a
nationwide study on victimization. They were done to determine the most
effective reference period to use when questioning respondents in order
to gain the fullest and most reliable information, to measure the
degree to which respondents move incidents occurring outside the
reference period into that period when questioned, and to explore the
possibility of identifying incidents by a few broad general questions
as opposed to a series of more specific probing questions.

Study Description

Citation

United States Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics. National Crime Surveys: Reverse Record Check Studies: Washington, DC, San Jose, and Baltimore, 1970-1971. ICPSR08693-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1987. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08693.v1

Universe:
Part 1: All crime victims in San Jose during 1970. Part 2:
All crime victims in Baltimore in 1970. Part 3: All crime victims in
Washington, DC in 1970.

Data Types:
survey data

Methodology

Sample:
Part 1: A probability sample of personal victims of crimes
was selected from official police reports. Victims were chosen to
provide uniform representation over 12 months on robbery, burglary,
rape, assault, and larceny. Part 2: Five hundred victims were
identified from official police records and represented four crimes:
assault, robbery, larceny, and burglary, from five recall time periods.
Part 3: Six hundred victims were identified from official police
records and represented four crimes: assault, robbery, larceny, and
burglary.

Data Source:

official police records, and personal interviews

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:1987-10-12

Version History:

2006-01-18 File CB8693.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.

Related Publications

1981

Lehnen, Robert G.,
Skogan, Wesley G.
Current and Historical Perspectives.
National Crime Survey Working Papers series, vol. 1.
Washington, DC:
United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.